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          The forgotten talents of Smith and Haddin

          The Australians are ecstatic after dismissing Sachin Tendulkar BCCI
          • Brydon Coverdale, Assistant editor, ESPNcricinfoMar 17, 2013, 01:23 PM
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              Assistant Editor Possibly the only person to win a headline-writing award for a title with the word "heifers" in it, Brydon decided agricultural journalism wasn't for him when he took up his position with ESPNcricinfo in Melbourne. His cricketing career peaked with an unbeaten 85 in the seconds for a small team in rural Victoria on a day when they could not scrounge up 11 players and Brydon, tragically, ran out of partners to help him reach his century. He is also a compulsive TV game-show contestant and has appeared on half a dozen shows in Australia.

          Change of the day
          The three overs Steven Smith bowled on the third day were hardly an encouraging audition for further bowling but Michael Clarke turned to his part-time legspinner in the final over before lunch, hoping to winkle a wicket with the batsmen cautiously playing for the break. Lo and behold, the first ball Smith delivered was accurate and turned, and caught the inside edge of Sachin Tendulkar's bat, popping off bat and pad to Ed Cowan at short-leg. It was the first Test wicket Smith had taken since he claimed three on debut in 2010, and it's fair to say it will remain his most memorable for some time.

          Rapid promotion of the day
          This time last week Brad Haddin was in Australia preparing for a Sheffield Shield match, having not played a Test in more than a year. But on day four in Mohali, he found himself acting captain on field for the Australians in the third Test when Michael Clarke went off on a number of occasions to have treatment for back soreness. Haddin is an experienced leader and in the absence of the regular vice-captain Shane Watson, was the natural man to take charge. But it was certainly a rapid rise given where he was last week.

          Bat-before-wicket of the day
          Any series involving India is bound to involve its share of controversy surrounding the lack of DRS. This time Cheteshwar Pujara was the victim of a decision that could have been overturned had the system been in place. The umpire Aleem Dar was quick to raise his finger when Peter Siddle angled the ball in and appealed for lbw with Pujara on 1 and the batsman stood at the crease for a few seconds before trudging off. It turned out Pujara had reason to be unhappy with the decision - replays confirmed a thick inside edge before the bat struck his pad.

          Anticlimax of the day
          After Shikhar Dhawan's remarkable first day of Test batting finished with him unbeaten on 185, it seemed like only a formality that he would become the sixth man to score a double-century on Test debut. But he was only able to add two to his overnight score before he pressed forward to Nathan Lyon and nudged a catch to Ed Cowan in close on the off side. Dhawan was out for 187 and any fans hoping for a repeat of Saturday's heroics were disappointed.